Three Carolinians Tapped for 2020 Curtis Cup Practice Squad

From Left: Emilia Migliaccio (Brian Westerholt/Sports on Film), Gina Kim and Natalie Srinivasan (Furman Sports Information).

LIBERTY CORNER, N.J. – The USGA’s International Team Selection Committee has invited 12 players to participate in a practice session in advance of the 2020 Curtis Cup Match including three Carolinians: Gina Kim, 19, of Durham, N.C., Emilia Migliaccio, 20, of Cary, N.C. and Natalie Srinivasan, 21, of Spartanburg, S.C. The session for prospective players will take place Dec. 15-17 at Loblolly in Hobe Sound, Fla.

A biennial competition, the 41st Curtis Cup Match will be contested June 12-14, 2020, at Conwy Golf Club in Caernarvonshire, Wales. The USA Team defeated the Great Britain & Ireland Team by a record-setting 17-3 margin in the 2018 Match at Quaker Ridge Golf Club in Scarsdale, N.Y.

The following 12 players have accepted invitations to the practice session (with current college affiliation):

• Allisen Corpuz, 21, of Honolulu, Hawaii (University of Southern California)
• Mariel Galdiano, 21, of Pearl City, Hawaii (University of California, Los Angeles)
• Lauren Greenlief, 29, of Ashburn, Va.
• Lauren Hartlage, 21, of Elizabethtown, Ky. (University of Louisville)
• Auston Kim, 19, of St. Augustine, Fla. (Vanderbilt University)
• Gina Kim, 19, of Durham, N.C. (Duke University)
• Emilia Migliaccio, 20, of Cary, N.C. (Wake Forest University)
• Alexa Pano, 15, of Lake Worth, Fla.
• Kaitlyn Papp, 21, of Austin, Texas (University of Texas)
• Aneka Seumanutafa, 19, of Emmitsburg, Md. (Ohio State University)
• Natalie Srinivasan, 21, of Spartanburg, S.C. (Furman University)
• Rose Zhang, 16, of Irvine, Calif.

Two USGA champions – Greenlief (2015 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur) and Papp (2016 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball) – are among the players who have accepted invitations. Gina Kim was the low amateur in the 2019 U.S. Women’s Open, while Galdiano is the lone player to have previously competed in a Curtis Cup Match, having played for the USA in both 2016 and 2018, compiling a 4-3 record.

Sarah Ingram, a three-time U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion (1991, 1993, 1994) who was a member of three USA Curtis Cup Teams (1992, 1994 and 1996), will serve as captain of the USA Team. A Duke University graduate, Ingram was a two-time All-American and four-year letter winner for the Blue Devils from 1985-1988. Ingram, who was the low amateur in the 1995 U.S. Women’s Open, is a member of the Duke University Sports Hall of Fame, the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame and the Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame. She recently advanced to the Round of 16 in the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, her first USGA competition in more than two decades.

“The talent level surrounding women’s amateur golf in this country is incredible, and I’m so excited to bring these 12 impressive players together for this practice session,” said Ingram. “My experience participating in three Curtis Cup Matches both fueled my competitive nature and formed lasting relationships. I am eager to help guide and be a part of that journey for a new group of young women.”

Invitation to the Curtis Cup practice session does not guarantee selection to the eight-player USA Team that will compete in June. Players not invited will also be considered for inclusion on the team. As of 2018, the USGA provides automatic selections to the reigning U.S. Women’s Amateur champion, along with the McCormack Medal winner, if eligible. Gabriela Ruffels, of Australia, the 2019 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion, is not eligible for the team, while 2019 McCormack Medal winner Andrea Lee, of Hermosa Beach, Calif., declined the invitation due to her intent to turn professional prior to the 2020 Curtis Cup Match. The USGA will automatically select the top three USA players in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking on April 8, 2020. The remainder of the team will be selected the following week.

The Curtis Cup Match is contested by two teams of eight female amateur players, one from the United States of America and one from Great Britain and Ireland, which is comprised of England, the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The USGA’s International Team Selection Committee selects the USA Team, while The R&A selects the GB&I Team.

Elaine Ratcliffe will serve as GB&I captain. Ratcliffe, a native of Cheshire, England, was a member of the victorious GB&I team in the 1996 Curtis Cup Match.

The USA Team leads the overall series, 29-8-3.